Nine-Eleven Plus Thirteen...

September 11, 2001

Thirteen years have come and gone since that infamous day in September, 2001, when our country was rocked by a terrible terrorist attack like none before it.  Thirteen years have come and gone--and many have forgotten how vulnerable we are.  Thirteen years have come and gone and the world is on fire and crumbling before our very eyes, just like the images of those burning buildings in New York City burned and crumbled.

Many have forgotten that day.  Some weren't even alive when it happened.  Some don't even care.  I wrote on that occasion about how it made me feel as an American to have my "innocence" taken away in the blink of an eye!  Gone are those days of comfort in the knowledge that we live in a land that has been free for over 200 years.  Our freedoms were fought for fiercely on the battle fields of our own country and on the battle fields in foreign lands.  We used to cherish those freedoms, while at the same time, we took them for granted.  Now, we fight in a different way, to hold on to those same freedoms for which our forefathers laid down their lives to preserve.

There is a new memorial in New York City, where the footprint of those buildings once stood.  It is a beautiful fountain, with a never ending waterfall depicting the never ending memories of those who lost their lives in those towers and those who gave their lives in valiant rescue efforts.  It is a fitting memorial.  There is also a new tower--a single tower--in New York City.  It rises above the area where rubble rested only just a few short years ago.  It won't be the same, but it is a monument, of sorts, to the memory of that terrible day in September, 2001.

May God continue to bless America and the families of those who lost their lives on that day.  I pray that somehow the memory of that day will spark anew a reverence for this great land and that we can move forward with a determination to never again allow another September 11th to happen--not on these shores!